


The Fresh Scent of Can Town

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Dorks, Earth C (Homestuck), Friendship, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 01:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10911078
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Two dork knights make a scientific discovery. Dave is, as usual, clingier than his cape, Karkat is way too similar to a cat, and Jade is Excited! About science!It's raining in Can Town...





	The Fresh Scent of Can Town

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt from the Homestuck Writers' Discord.  
> Petrichor: A pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather. (According to the Oxford Dictionary)

Dave had long known that despite how fluffy Karkat appeared, his hair was a spiky, springy mess that seemed to grow upward. Ironically enough, it was because of the spikes that Karkat’s hair wasn’t a complete and utter floof. The way Karkat often ran his fingers roughly through his hair in frustration had clumped the mess into spikes, although these spikes were easily overcome with the slightest bit of moisture.

Or, perhaps, a _lot_ of moisture. Karkat Vantas and rain were not friends. In fact, Karkat Vantas’ _hair_ and rain were not friends either, no matter how much Dave thought it was amazing when the two things collided.

Regardless, Karkat’s hair was turning into a fluffy mess, and honestly Dave loved it. They’d been walking along the hillier areas of the reconstructed and full-sized Can Town when suddenly, the sky’s water had broken and it had started to explosively give birth to a metric fuckton of water. Or, in normal words, it had started to rain. Sometimes Dave’s way of describing things got a bit…strange. 

Dave had grabbed Karkat and dipped him into a kiss, a Kiss in the Rain, but it hadn’t lasted. Much like a cat, Karkat hated getting wet.

Karkat, who had by now gotten over his fear of becoming entangled in Dave’s cape, had pulled it over his head as they ran toward their can home, but it hadn’t been enough. Now, sitting on the floor of their home and toweling off, Dave was almost entranced by the way Karkat’s hair was fluffing up. Running a towel through it did wonders, and once the hair was cleared from its usual clumps, it was just so…

Dave let out a probably weird sound and tipped forward to sink his face against Karkat’s head, resting between the two adorable, nubby horns. His head sank into the fluffy hair and Karkat just…gave up. There was no dislodging a Dave Strider once that particular human had gotten it into his head to become a multi-limbed oceanbeast. Dave’s arms had linked around Karkat’s torso, securing himself firmly in place behind his troll boyfriend. He inhaled.

Fuck, it was probably exceedingly weird, but Dave didn’t care. Despite how cliché it was, Dave genuinely loved the scent of Karkat’s hair. It smelled lightly of Karkat’s weird, peppery alien scent, but also of, well, their home together. That is to say, a tinge of apple, something unidentified but typically associated with sweat, and, oh, that was new. An earthy scent that was unfailingly connected with the aftermath of rain.

A sharp, enthusiastic set of knocks sounded on on the door, but Dave wouldn’t be arsed to remove himself. The only person who ever knocked like that was Jade, and she was familiar enough with his and Karkat’s mutual weirdness that she wouldn’t be bothered at all. Surely enough, an overenthusiastic , neon-clad dork came floating in seconds later, beaming like crazy. Her grin, if anything, widened as she took in the position Dave was in.

“Hi!” She exclaimed, and the way she vocalized almost seemed to carry the weight of way too many exclamation marks with it. “I hope this wasn’t too sudden to anything, but it was getting uncomfortably soaking outside so I dropped in for a visit to my two favorite knights!” Jade flopped down beside Dave, who looked up briefly to toss her an extra towel that was just lying around.

Jade took the towel, wrapped it around her hair, then let herself fall backward to rest her back on the couch. “So! Dave, what _are_ you doing?”

“Karkat.”

Dave realized the error of his one-word answer when he was nudged in the ribs by said troll.

“Well, not doing Karkat, as in, ye know, _doing_ him, I’m just. Lemme start over. His hair is perfect and amazing and extremely soft and fluffy. And that was the gayest thing I’ve said in a while so take that in the most objective sense possible and feel for yourself.”

She reached out a hand and petted Karkat’s hair like a particularly soft animal. _Nice_. And then she poked the back of Dave’s head, where he was once again face-first in Karkat’s hair. Judging by the way he was inhaling deeply and contentedly, Jade guessed it had something to do with scent. She was no stranger to the idea, since often, the most random scents reminded her of earth.

“In case you were wondering, it’s called petrichor.”

“Petri-what? Is this some scinecy earth term you’re talking about, Harley?” And the grumpy one speaks! 

Jade stifled a giggle at how rumbly Karkat’s voice had gone from contentment, then explained. “It’s basically the smell that hangs around after a good rain, and probably why Dave’s got his face in your hair. He seems to have caught a severe case of nostalgia.”

Dave didn’t have the mangrit to tell her that it was just that Karkat smelled, well, homey. He just swatted at where he thought her arm would be without looking up.  
Jade caught his arm and happily decided to elaborate more. “Did you know it’s caused by ozone, plant oils, and…” she paused dramatically, “bacteria spores?”

Dave reared back so dramatically it was almost funny. “No way. What the fuck, Jade? You’re kidding me. You’re completely joking right. The Egbert prankster's gambit has finally made its way over to the Harley side and you’re just continuing its legacy.”

She poked him. “Now who’s the resident scientist here? It’s not you, it’s me. But besides, don’t worry, Dave. It’s harmless and pretty commonly found too!” While it was funny to see him flail and flounder, she wasn’t willing to let the spread of misinformation continue anywhere in the Can Town community. 

Meanwhile, Karkat was poking at his hair in distaste, grumbling something about a bath. Dave’s eyes lit up in a way that would have been almost comical, before he seemed to remember that Jade was right in front of him. He mumbled something unintelligible about ‘plans’, and then was promptly distracted by the sunlight suddenly pouring through the window.

“Weather, man. Fucking weird. One moment wetter than something out of a hentai and the next, here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo”, Dave remarked as if he’d said something profound.

It was very obviously a deflection, and not a very good one, at that, but Jade couldn’t agree more.


End file.
